- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Location
- Mt. Jackson, Va
Bummers was a nickname given to the foragers of Sherman's Army during the famous ( or infamous ) March to the Sea, and then through the Carolinas. Uncle Billy not only severed his communications with Lincoln and Grant so that his communications couldn't be intercepted, but he also planned to have the army living off the land with the help of these bummers. The designation " bummers " was used by civilians and soldiers alike to describe Sherman's foragers that were both official and unofficial. They would requisition food from Southern homes that lay in the route of the Army's march. Bummers became despised in the South for their highly destructive actions such as looting, vandalism, and setting homes on fire. Also their destruction of industrial property such as mills, cotton gins, and foundries prevented the South from sustaining it's war effort. All of this led to the realization that ultimately, the Confederacy was unable to successfully defend it's territory on All fronts.
One southern family's encounter with bummers was recorded by North Carolina resident and Civil War diarist, Jane Evans Elliot:
This day two weeks since, 12 of March was a day of sorrow and confusion never to be forgotten. Sherman’s army reached Fayetteville the day before, and at 9 o’clock Sunday morning, a party of raiders rushed in upon our peaceful home. They pillaged and plundered the whole day and quartered upon that night and staid [sic] until 5 o’clock Monday evening. Some part of the time there were at least three different parties. The house was rifled from garret to cellar. Took all our blankets and all [my husband’s] clothes, all our silver and knives and forks, all our luxuries, leaving nothing but a little meat and corn. They threatened [my husband’s] life repeatedly and one ruffian galloped up to the door and pulled out his matches to fire the house. Oh! it was terrible beyond description. It seems ever present to my mind. One night they strung fire all around us and we took up the children and dressed them and watched all night fearing the fire might consume our dwelling.
— Jane Evans Elliot, March 25, 1865.
One southern family's encounter with bummers was recorded by North Carolina resident and Civil War diarist, Jane Evans Elliot:
This day two weeks since, 12 of March was a day of sorrow and confusion never to be forgotten. Sherman’s army reached Fayetteville the day before, and at 9 o’clock Sunday morning, a party of raiders rushed in upon our peaceful home. They pillaged and plundered the whole day and quartered upon that night and staid [sic] until 5 o’clock Monday evening. Some part of the time there were at least three different parties. The house was rifled from garret to cellar. Took all our blankets and all [my husband’s] clothes, all our silver and knives and forks, all our luxuries, leaving nothing but a little meat and corn. They threatened [my husband’s] life repeatedly and one ruffian galloped up to the door and pulled out his matches to fire the house. Oh! it was terrible beyond description. It seems ever present to my mind. One night they strung fire all around us and we took up the children and dressed them and watched all night fearing the fire might consume our dwelling.
— Jane Evans Elliot, March 25, 1865.